Go Down With This Ship
by Daughter of the Earthshaker
Summary: "Jason, it's me, Piper," the voice answers, and Jason's eyes widen as he kicks the covers off. He stares at her, and for a second, the choppy braids disappear, and are replaced by one single braid, but as quickly as it came, it disappears. Oneshot. Jayna and slight Jasper.


**Got home from school early today, so I am going on a writing spree! This is a one shot I half-wrote a few months back, and I revisited it today, and it just went off the track. Originally, it was based on Dido's _White Flag_, but then, it just turned...too bittersweet for my liking.**

**This one shot is also based on the little knowledge I have on Mark of Athena, so please excuse me if it doesn't fit. It's supposed take place before the Mark of Athena, but this is what I think (and wish) is the reason why there's Jasper in the Mark of Athena. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Uh, I wished I owned many things, but PJO and HoO don't seem to belong to me. **

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**Go Down With This Ship**

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_*Weird dream thing*_

"_Jason." Said boy blinks, staring in front of him, but nothing is there; only the seats of the gods are visible before him, his father's throne alive with the crackling of electricity and lightning, the same kind he had inherited. _

"_Jason." This time, the voice is louder, and impatient, and the blonde finally senses that it's behind him, so he spins around, only to be greeted by his evil, evil stepmother…ish person that basically ruined his life. _

_Nevertheless, she's one of the gods, and his 'patron', and so, he kneels in front of her, his bright blue eyes downcast as they try to burn a way through the floor and out of Olympus. Too bad he isn't Leo. "Juno," he finally says, his hands resting on his knees as he struggles to keep the scowl off his face._

"_You may rise," the goddess commands, her voice calm and full of authority. The son of Jupiter stands up and brushes nonexistent dust from his jeans as he avoids looking at her. He was _not _in a good mood to talk to the goddess that kidnapped him from his home for eight months. _

"_I understand that you are still angry at me for removing you from your home," she continues, not caring if Jason is glaring at the glossy floor, "but it was necessary. You have received and gained the trust of the Greek demigods, and will successfully unite them with the Roman demigods, with the help of Perseus Jackson. This was the only way to save Rome, Jason." _

_The blonde finally looks up, his eyes narrowed. "And now that we're going to be reunited, what will happen? Do I get all my memories back?" _

_Juno shakes her head in disagreement. "No, not yet. Remember when I said you will be the bridge between the Greeks and Romans?" The son of Jupiter nods, and Juno continues. "Well, your job is not quite done yet. In order for both camps to fully trust each other, there has to be some sort of link between the two camps such as a tight bond between two demigods so they will know that this is no joke." Her gold eyes are cautious as she waits for Jason's reaction. _

_Realization finally dawns on the blonde's face, and his usually bright eyes turn a dark blue-gray, like storm clouds. "Piper," he says, looking at the Roman goddess for confirmation. _

"_Yes," Juno agrees, waving a hand in the air in dismissal. "You and Piper will need to continue dating so there is one strong Greek-Roman bond between the two camps." _

"_And Reyna?" The Roman demands, one hand clenched in a fist. "When you took my memories, you knew we were dating." _

"_Not officially," she counters. "You had told Dakota and Robert it was 'complicated', am I correct?" _

"_It's _Bobby_," he corrects her, gritting his teeth. "And we were going to go 'official' the next day; you knew that." _

"_Reyna will be fine," Juno reassures him. "She's a daughter of Bellona; she didn't want anything to do with you in the first place. Reyna will understand that this is for Rome." The goddess studies him. "Do_ you _not understand how much is at stake? Piper is the peacekeeper, and you are a leader, and a son of Jupiter. Together, the two of you are powerful and hard to defeat." _

_Jason is silent for a moment as his Roman side is processing the information. The first thing he learned is that everything is second to the safety and future of Rome. Rome always came first, no matter what._

_Even before his own happiness._

"_For Rome," he declares finally, trying as hard as he could to keep the emotion from seeping into his words. __**Romans let nothing get to them, and will do whatever it takes to defend Rome**__, Reyna's voice enters his mind, and he resists the urge to wring Juno by the neck. _

"_Good. You are less than an hour away from Camp Jupiter, so I will allow you to wake up very soon. Remember, the fate of the world depends on you," she finishes, looking at him with a strict expression, and something resembling…fondness? What the Pluto? _

"_Yes, Juno," he replies, kneeling yet again, his eyes closed. The blonde wants to remember a glossy braid and commanding brown eyes before letting Aphrodite (not Venus; Aphrodite. He's not mixing up the gods) erase the long braid with several choppy ones, and changing the brown eyes to kaleidoscope. _

"_Be strong, my champion," Juno says softly before snapping her fingers._

_*End weird dream thing*_

"Jason."

"Arrrggh," Jason moans, pulling the covers over his head.

"Jason," the voice says again, a little louder, but still as sweet as ever, yet it sounds wrong to him.

"Go away, Juno," he groans, resisting the tug on his covers.

"Jason, it's me, Piper," the voice answers, and Jason's eyes widen as he kicks the covers off. He stares at her, and for a second, the choppy braids disappear, and are replaced by one single braid, but as quickly as it came, it disappears.

_Gods, Aphrodite did a good job_, Jason thinks to himself, still staring at Piper.

"Jason?" The Cherokee girl stares at him, a look of concern on her face. She softly places a hand on his forehead. "Are you okay?"

The blonde blinks, and Juno's words wash over him. _Together, the two of you are powerful and hard to defeat. _It hits him like a ton of bricks, and he knows that this is the only way to go. Rome always comes first - he comes second.

So he flashes her his most convincing smile, and forces the laugh out of his throat when Piper blushes. "I'm fine," Jason reassures her, clasping her small hand in his.

"Are you nervous that you're almost home?" Jason can hear the worry and pain that coats her every word, and he does his best to not think of how _she _would feel when he comes home with another girl on his arm. The blonde resists the urge to pull away.

_Together, the two of you are powerful and hard to defeat_, the words stay in his mind.

Instead, the son of Jupiter only grins at the Greek and whispers, "Not if you're by my side." He wills himself to fall in love with her, to forget the girl with chocolate eyes and never ending braid. Jason pushes all his other feelings aside, and focuses on Piper only.

_Together, the two of you are powerful and hard to defeat_, Juno's voice repeats again.

He tries to remember these words, but his mind always ends up conjuring the picture of Reyna. Jason tries another method, and thinks back to what Reyna had said to him. _Romans let nothing get to them, and will do whatever it takes to defend Rome_.

"Did you just zoom out on me?" Piper's teasing voice brings Jason back to reality. Jason only shrugs, making her smile. "What kind of boyfriend are you?" she asks, shaking her head at him.

Yes, what kind of boyfriend is he? _Romans let nothing get to them, and will do whatever it takes to defend Rome. _Reyna's voice haunts him, and he sits up straighter.

"One that loves his girlfriend very much," Jason says, capturing her lips. He closes his eyes and promises himself to never think of Reyna again.

_Romans let nothing get to them, and will do whatever it takes to defend Rome_. It becomes softer, as if it's being cast away.

_This is for you, Reyna, this is for Rome_, is the son of Jupiter's final thought before he lets his Spanish Queen go.

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**I love blaming everything on Juno. I mean, she caused all of this in the first place!**

**I love this 'Spanish Queen' nickname! Why didn't I think of it earlier!? Ah well, better late than never...**

**Gah, Jason seems like a player in this, but remember, he's doing this for Rome (which seems to be my excuse for everything).**

**Please read and review! **

**-DOTE**


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